Chinese Inflation Was Flat in February

Updated March 12, 2002 9:48 pm ET

China's consumer price index was unchanged in February, ending three consecutive months of price declines that had again raised worries about a resurgence of deflation. The February result was also higher than market expectations which centered on a 0.7% decline after a 1% fall in January. In the January-February period, China's CPI fell 0.5% year-on-year, the State Statistics Bureau said in a statement. China's government has set a target range of 1%-2% growth in the CPI during full-year 2002. The main contributors to the flat result in February were higher prices for food, housing and utilities, the statistics bureau...